Winter Sickness
by Nao
Summary: Renovating: 'Hatori? Is that you? My, my, Hatori! You sound absolutely dreadful! I shall go make some soup, or have Tohru make some so I don't accompany in being one of the people to further destroy dear Shigures' home, and be over before you can say—'
1. Prologue

IMPORTANT: I would simply like to point out that this story is being updated, because I am renovating it, in a sense. Not much will change, just possibly a couple of parts added, or the sentences changed around slightly so as they make more sense. I have not had computer access in quite a long time, and have decided to continue this story, so expect updates soon.

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Authors Note: The prologue (which is this chapter) is rather short, but the following chapter will be longer once they are posted. Please forgive any spelling or grammar mistakes (which would be much appreciated if they were pointed out) for English is not my native language. Also, remember to review once you read this installment, for it may help me get the next part out faster. Thank you again, and enjoy reading! 

And thank you so much to Midnight blue-rhea for pointing out my error. It is much appreciated!

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Prologue

Winter Sickness  
Written by: Nao

The vast estate, which was owned by the Sohma family, was dusted with the very first snowflakes from a late season storm. The snowflakes, which had been falling from the sky above for the past hours of the day, had finally began to stick to the ground, and gave the area the winter effect, which most residents had began to get use to. The effect made it seem as though it were the first snow of the year, minus one important thing. That one thing was that almost all of the members of the Sohma family were inside their homes, with the heat to warm their houses on, and blankets to keep out any chill that was remaining. Even the younger children remained indoors, having played in the last snows that had drifted over the Sohma Estate.

But the season of winter would soon come to an end, seeing as it was now February 19th. Valentines Day had come and went in the blink of an eye, leaving many (especially Yuki Sohma, the prince of Kaiwaia High School) with chocolate that would last them many weeks to come. Now, there would be no holidays of the kind until White Day rolled around on March 14th, when the males would in return were to give females presents. And then would arrive the much awaited first day of spring, on March 20th.

But even though the majority of the Sohma family members were indoors, there were some that remained outdoors as well; one of those people being Shigure Sohma, a male whom was cursed under the sign of the Dog. He was practically skipping through the snow to one of his best friends house, Hatori Sohma. Hatori was the doctor of the family, and he too was born under the Sohma family curse; he under the sign of the dragon.

'Skip, skip, skip...' Not many interesting thoughts ran through the young mans mind at the present moment, for there was nothing worth pondering over, it seemed. There was nothing which would be a subject of thought, or anyone at the moment, that would keep his mind occupied for more than a few scarce moments. So he was just repeating the same word over and over again, so that he would not be entirely bored as he continued to venture through the snow, to the doctors' house.

The journey didn't take long, and a couple minutes later he arrived at the front door of the Dragons' house. He rapped his knuckles against the wooden door a couple of times, and then waited for his arrival to be acknowledged. After a couple moments of no answer he once again knocked on the door and waited. This time though he received a muffled reply from inside the house which much sounded like a, "The doors open." Shigure grinned at this and turned the handle before pushing the door open, then looked around for any sight of his best friend from where he was standing. Upon not seeing Hatori he let out a sigh and removed his shoes, slipping on a pair of slippers by the door which had Shigure written on the soles, and he then ventured into the next room, which was the living room.

His grin widened more as he saw the slightly messy (as of now), dark hair of his friend, from over the armrest of the couch. He quickly walked over, the slippers making the sound of light footfalls on the floor beneath them. What he saw next made his grin fall, and a frown cross his features. Hatori was sitting face down on the couch, with his arms straight at his sides. It would've been a funny sight for Shigure to catch the dragon in, if it had not been for the fact that he hadn't even turned over to greet his guest. He sighed and then decided to lighten up the mood, if even slightly. "Good Morning Ha'ri!" He announced in a sing-song voice, much more dramatically then need be. The only reply he received was a mumbled "Shut up, Shigure.", which was muffled horribly by the couch.

If Shigure had truly been a dog at the moment, his tail would've stopped wagging and his ears would've drooped. 'What is with Ha'ri this morning? He's acting strangely.' Right when that thought finished passing through his head a red-nosed Hatori rolled over on the couch to stare at the ceiling. His eyes looked glazed over and unfocused, and he was paler than usual. Shigure's jaw dropped, and he didn't even bother to conceal it. His always healthy friend looked as though he had become sick. Truthfully, he didn't know doctors could even get sick. Was it possible?

Hatori groaned and rested the back of his wrist against his forehead. He felt terrible at the moment. 'Maybe I'm just overly-tired?' He thought to himself before his back arched slightly as a wave of coughs overtook him.

At that moment, when the other man began coughing, a grin flashed over Shigure's face. "I'll call Aya!", he practically squealed before prancing out of the room.

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To be continued...


	2. Chapter One

IMPORTANT: I would simply like to point out that this story is being updated, because I am renovating it, in a sense. Not much will change, just possibly a couple of parts added, or the sentences changed around slightly so as they make more sense. I have not had computer access in quite a long time, and have decided to continue this story, so expect updates soon.

* * *

Authors Note: Thank both of you (midnight blue-rhea and HiedixMoon) for reviewing my last chapter. It made me want to put this one up sooner! But anyways, I really don't have much to say after that, so on with the fanfic!

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Chapter One

Winter Sickness  
Written by: Nao

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After a couple moments of overenthusiastic introductions, running off of the subject, and forgetting completely what he was calling to say, he was finally reminded as the subject as to why he was calling, staggered into the room. The said subject lightly pinched the bridge of his nose out of frustration, walked over to the other who was still on the phone, and pulled it away from him. He sighed and tried to quietly clear his throat before putting it to his ear. "Ayame, Shigure had to leave. He saw a cat and just darted off af-"He had no chance to finish his sentence as the other on the phone cut him off. 

"Hatori? Is that you? My, my, Hatori! You sound absolutely dreadful! I shall go make some soup (or have Tohru make some so I don't accompany in being one of the people to further destroy dear Shigures' home) and be over before you can say—!"And this time it was the snakes' turn of being cut off as the dragon, out of frustration, slammed the phone back onto the receiver, then picked it up and slammed it back down a couple of more times.

His friend, who was now simply watching him, head cocked to the side, which caused dark bangs falling into his eyes which he neglected to advert from his eyes. "So, Aya's coming over, right?" Hatori didn't voice the answer to Shigures' question, but instead just glared at the dog and turned to walk into the other room. Shigure snickered quietly and grinned as he pranced over to the coffee machine, and stared at it for a moment. His lips curled up at the sides as he grabbed a bag of coffee. "Hmm -- How to work this thing now?"

Meanwhile, in the other room, Hatori flopped back down, face first, onto the couch. First Shigure came, and that man could be a handful in himself; but now Aya. He groaned and shook his head; he didn't even want to think about the trouble that those two could cause together. He closed his eyes and simply lay there, enjoying the silence of the house. He didn't think that a moment like this could ever be possible with Shigure here. Hatori then sighed and rolled onto his side, then nearly screamed, but instead just jumped up into a seated position, pushed far back against the couch, and grasped the shirt above his heart with his hand as he tried to catch his breath.

There was Shigure, who had his chin resting on the cushion the sickly man was previously laying on, with a cup of coffee in his hands. When Hatori had rolled over, his face had been so close to Shigures'; he could probably have touched noses with him if he had been less then a centimeter closer. Shigure candidly grinned at the dragon, jumped up (as he attempted not to spill the coffee), and handed it to the dragon. Hatori glared at him and opened his mouth to speak, just as the door was thrown open, and his nightmare came true. Shigure and Ayame were both here, taking care of him.

Shigure smiled and turned around, accidentally spilling some coffee on Hatori' cream colored carpet. When he attempted to catch some of the falling droplets, all he succeeded in was spilling it on himself. Shigure sighed and looked down. "Aw, and that was going to be for –-"

"Isn't that hot?" Hatori uttered as a confused expression passed over his features. He knew that he smelt coffee in the room, and it was now reeking off of Shigure, who was saturated in it. Though somehow, it didn't make sense to how the cup of the drink was not now burning the dog-cursed man.

Shigure blinked, more out of confusion than anything, and shrugged before turning to Ayame. "Want to go and change with me? I think that Hatori is much in need of a nap." Aya me nodded enthusiastically, and skipped upstairs, with Shigure in tow. Hatori sighed once they disappeared up the staircase, and glanced down at his once perfectly clean rug, which now had coffee stains on it. He groaned and turned to face the back of the couch when something seemed to mentally hit him. "Wait --" He mumbled to himself and closed his eyes in concentration. "Ayame and Shigure went upstairs to -- change." His dark eyes immediately flew open, and he turned around, then stood up, just as two lab-coat clad men started down the stairs. One of them was balancing a pencil on his nose as the other was skipping down the stairs calling to him. "Aren't these just the cutest things we found in your closet Ha-chan? They're absolutely adorable!" By then they had reached the bottom of the stairs, and Ayame spun a little, as to make the bottom of the lab-coat go up a couple of inches.

Shigure had a serious look on his face as he strode over to Hatori and kneeled down next to him. "Are you ready, Nurse Ayame?" He asked, looking over to Ayame, who was quickly tying his hair into one long braid while he nodded his head in approval. Shigure stared at Hatori for a moment and then reached into his pocket and pulled out a mini flashlight, and then turned Hatoris' head and shone it into his ear. At the same moment he leaned across the dragon to peer into his other ear. Shigures' eyes then widened, and he gasped, moving away from the other man. "Ay-Ayame-san! We must operate! Their something clogged in-between his ears!" Ayame gasped and covered his mouth with his hands. The dragon simply rolled his eyes and continued to lay there.

Shigure sighed and turned to Ayame. "Cough medicine!" He announced to his 'nurse' and Ayame grinned and took out a toy doctors' bag from behind his back, reached in, and pulled out a spoon and cough medicine. Shigure thanked him and looked at the label, squinting slightly. "Seven tablespoons! Yes -- that's it!" He announced and started to pour the first amount of the medicine into the tablespoon.

Hatoris' eyes widened and he opened his mouth to protest that it was most defiantly not seven tablespoons, but was stopped as the spoon of medicine was shoved into his mouth. He scrunched his nose as the bitter tasting liquid entered his mouth, and then turned to Shigure who was pouring yet another tablespoon of the medication. "Shigure, it is most defin—"He was cut off as another tablespoon of medicine was shoved into his mouth. Once again he scrunched up his nose, as the taste seemed to be even worse this time. Shigure, once again, started to pour another table spoon, and Hatoris' eyes widened. "Open up Ha-chan!" The dog announced in a sing-song voice, and moved the spoon closer to his 'patients' mouth. Panicking, at the thought of being overdosed, the dragon did the first thing that came to mind. Hatori turned his head to the side and pursed his lips, then covered them with his hands.

Ayame giggled at the child-like antic of Hatori, and then peered over at the bottle that Shigure was still holding and laughed. "Shigure-kun, it says two tablespoons, not seven! Silly, silly puppy!" He said and lightly hit Shigure across the head, in a playful manner. At this Shigure blinked and stared at the package again.

"Ah, it does say that, doesn't it?" He asked, as an anime style sweatdrop appeared on his head, only soon to vanish. "Ha-san! You should've said something! I wouldn't have tried to give you so much! Oh, you didn't know, did you? Silly doctor, you should know all about medicine, you fake!" He snickered as Hatori glared at him and removed his hands from his face, only to be practically tackled back into a laying position by the dog, who was now sitting on his stomach, and straddling him with his legs as he leaned over to shine the little flashlight into the dragons' ear once again. Again, he looked into the other ear and shook his head. On the other side of the room Ayame gasped, and his eyes started to fill with tears.

Shigure hopped off of Hatori and walked over to Ayame, then held his hands in his own. "We need to operate, Aya, or else he is going to die." He said lowly, in a very serious manner. Ayames' golden colored eyes continued to water as he nodded.

"I understand Dr. Shigure, please, just keep him alive. He's my childs' father, after all."

Shigure nodded before continuing his speech. "I under—" Their deviant soap- opera was soon cut off though, by their 'dying patient'.

"Get out of my house." He said, just loud enough for the other two to hear. They both turned to him, looks of confusion apparent on their faces. Ayame was the first to speak.

"Huh? What're you talking about Ha-chan?" he asked, as he and Shigure let go of each others hands, both now paid full attention to the ill dragon.

"I'm talking about how I want you both out of my house, now." He answered calmly. Ayame sighed and nodded, but Shigure on the other hand wanted to continue on with the questioning.

"Oh, but Ha'ri! That's not right! You cannot kick your two best friends in the whole wide world, into the cold, cold winter night, where we could freeze to death in the snow, and have to cling to each other to save all the body heat we had remaining, as we sit there, waiting for the long hours of the night to pass before sleep finally overcome our half-frozen bodies, and we fall into the endless sleep of evermore. How would you--?"

"Get out of my house Shigure, before I call someone to get you out." He said, in the same dangerously low tone which made Shigure whimper quietly and begin to walk towards the door where Ayame was waiting for him.

He stopped when he was just about to leave the room, and simply stood there, not bothering to face Hatori. "I hope you are able to live with the guilt if we both die a slow and painful death because you sent us out in the –"

"Out Shigure." Hatori once again cut the dog off, who in return sighed and slipped off his slippers, put his shoes back on, and exited the dragons' house with Ayame. He and Ayame walked in silence for a long time until they reached the road that led through the woods, to Shigures' house.

They both stopped, and Shigure grinned as he looked to Ayame. "Tomorrow?" He questioned, seeming to forget the past events of the day, as his optimistic aura returned to him again.

"Tomorrow!" Ayame answered and they both stuck out their thumbs, across from each other, before shouting at the same time:

"Yes!"

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To be continued...


	3. Chapter Two

Authors Note: Thank you all so much for such nice reviews and for noting my mistake, thank you once again midnight blue-rhea! I very much appreciate it! I'm also glad that you all seem to be enjoying this fanfic, as much as I'm enjoying writing it. And yes, as most of you said, poor, poor Ha'ri, having to suffer being cared for by the two other people of the Mabudachi Trio.

Also, I had not previously planned on this fic containing other people then the Mabudachi Trio and Tohru, but I decided that it might be more interesting with more people other then them as well. I hope you enjoy it!

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Chapter Two

Winter Sickness  
Written by: Nao

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After Shigure and Ayame had finally left his home, he let out an over exasperated sigh and laid back down on the couch. His eyes remained closed, as he just relaxed in the silence of the house. Every so often he would turn onto his stomach, side, or back to lying on his back. The silence seemed slightly unnerving, but he wasn't sure why.  
  
From his position of lying on his back he opened his eyes and searched (without moving) around what he could see of the room with his eyes. Nothing was what he finally concluded. There was absolutely nothing or no one in the house, no signs of movement, no noises other then his very own breath, nothing. He shook his head at this, he couldn't let a natural paranoia like this get him in a state where he was constantly looking around, like he was right now.  
  
Upon realizing that he was indeed still looking around he tightly closed his eyes and sighed. He was acting strangely, most likely because of his sickness, but what if something had been in the medicine Shigure had given him. What if the clumsy dog had accidentally added something by leaving the cap off and spilling something that got into it, or what if it wasn't medicine at all, and Shigure had just mixed in who knows what into a medicine bottle and decided to give it to him as a trick.  
  
Hatori's eyes once again opened and he sat up, but what he saw next startled him beyond all belief. There, standing in the doorway to the living room, was Momijis' mother, with her little child Momo standing at her side. Hatori could've sworn that he heard the door lock when the snake and dog had left earlier, and it was still closed, and he had even been listening to see if he heard anything the entire time he was standing there. He just stared, mouth slightly agape.  
  
"Hatori-san, I have come here to speak with you." She said to him, taking a few steps towards the still shocked dragon. Hatori shook all the suspicions out of his head and then nodded to her. From there, she continued on with her explanation as to why she came here to ask him something. "My son, Momiji, is desperately ill at the moment. High fevers, developing a rash, coughing, and everything else. You are not a highly respected doctor, such as our lovely cousin Ritsu is, so we are requesting you allow us to switch doctors so that our son will live." She said, smiling the whole time as she said that to him.  
  
Hatori blinked in confusion. Her son, Momiji? But, he had been erased from her memories completely. And now he too has come down with a sickness? And she wanted to switch doctors? "Mrs. Sohma, I can assure you that I am completely suited as the fa—"--for RITSU?! What the hell was going on? Ritsu wasn't attending medical school, nor never did, and was most definitely not suited to becoming a doctor.  
  
"Please? Please allow us to do this, Grandpa Hatori?" He blinked. Something at the end of her sentence hadn't quite sounded right; it was almost like her voice changed. And why did she call him 'Grandpa Hatori'. There was only one person who did that, and he was positive they weren't there right now.  
  
"Please Grandpa Hatori?" She asked him again. His head was spinning now. What was going on? He watched as Momo took a step towards him.  
  
"Yo, wake up!" She opened her mouth and was the one to speak, though it was not her voice. First off it was a males' voice, and it sounded like her voice was years older then it should've been.  
  
He suddenly felt someone shaking him slightly, and he heard voices again, but this time, he noticed that his eyes were closed, and he could feel that he was lying down on the couch again. Had he fainted or something? "Yo! I said wake up!" He felt something like a hand slap him across the face and his eyes fluttered open. He looked around from his lying position for a moment, but it didn't seem that the two in the room had noticed his awakening as of yet.  
  
"Hiro, stop it. You're going to hurt him. Besides, look, he is awake." The little girl with dark orange hair pointed over to Hatori whom was still lying on the couch. He looked over and blinked in confusion. It was simply a dream, but he hadn't even remembered falling asleep in the first place. He sighed and sat up.  
  
"About time." The sheep cursed boy replied and crossed his arms across his chest. Hatori looked over to the duo and sighed.  
  
"What brings you two here?" He asked, no cheerfulness apparent in his voice. He wasn't in the mood for company right now, no matter who it was. But he had to say, that these two were much less to handle then the two others in the Mabudachi Trio.  
  
Hiro, like usual, was the first one to speak, as well as voice his opinion on the matter. "Tohru was told by Ayame or something like that, that you were coming down with a cold. Kisa wanted to come and make sure you were okay. I only came because Momiji and I wouldn't have been able to finish our board game without her."  
  
Kisa walked over closer to Hatori and just looked at him for a moment. "Sissy is making some soup for you right now; she said she would be over as soon as it's finished to give it to you."  
  
Soup actually sounded very good right now. He would have to make sure to thank Tohru extra for this, especially since she didn't even have to do this for him. He nodded to the children and watched as Hiro sat on a chair opposite of the couch. Kisa just remained standing and then looked around.  
  
The door suddenly burst open and there was Tohru with oven mitts on as she was holding a steaming bowl of soup. She rushed over to an end table and smiled at Hatori, still slightly out of breath. "I came as fast as I could once I finished the soup. I'm sorry it took so long, it's just I had to go grocery shopping quickly to get some ingredients. I hope you're feeling better now that Shigure-san and Ayame-san have come over to visit and make you feel better." When she had finished talking, she had succeeded in scooping some of the dark coloured soup into a bowl which she had brought with her, and handed it to the sickly dragon, along with a spoon. "I hope you like Miso soup Hatori-san, I wasn't sure what you would and wouldn't like, so I settled with this. If you don't like it I could make you something else."  
  
"Its fine, I rather enjoy Miso as it is. Thank you Tohru." He replied and sat up and took the bowl from her. He then dipped the spoon into it. The room seemed quiet again, and he looked up to the three faces watching him, almost as if waiting for an answer to how it tasted. He shuddered slightly; he didn't like being the center of attention. But he pushed all those thoughts to the side and brought the spoon to his lips and then into his mouth. He then swallowed the soup and brought the spoon back down to the bowl to get some more. He smiled up at Tohru. "Its perfect, thank you again Tohru-san."  
  
Tohru blushed a little and waved her arms in the 'no no no' type manner of hers. "No, it's nothing Hatori-san. If anything I feel bad for not being able to help you out more then by giving you soup."  
  
He chuckled slightly and shook his head. "Trust me, this is probably the best help I will get and need until I feel better." He answered. Kisa walked over and peered into his bowl before looking over to Hiro.  
  
"Hiro, do you and Momiji want to go and make some soup that we can give to grandpa Hatori?" She asked, looking down slightly, out of not having enough confidence in herself,  
  
Hiro sighed and nodded a little. "Then can we try to finish our game?" He replied, trying to keep his temper down. Kisa then grinned and nodded, looking back up to him.  
  
"Thank you so much Hiro!" She gave him a quick hug (which made him visibly blush) and then she looked back over to Hatori. "I hope you feel better soon, Grandpa Hatori." Hiro nodded in agreement, probably not being able to say anything, even if he wanted to at the moment.  
  
Tohru grinned and nodded as well. "Would you like to come over and cook the soup at Shigures' house, Kisa? I could help if you want."  
  
Kisa nodded and smiled, but then her smile dropped a little as she looked over to Hiro. "I mean, if it's okay with you Hiro. Is it?" She asked quietly. Hiro rolled his eyes slightly and nodded (which made the tigers' grin widen again).  
  
"Fine, fine, whatever. Come-on, lets just get going. I don't want to catch whatever Hatoris' caught." With that he walked out of the house. Kisa quickly followed, waving goodbye to Hatori as she did so. Tohru on the other hand stayed put for a moment. She smiled lightly to the dragon and waved.  
  
"Get well soon, ok Hatori? We'll bring you over some more soup later." He nodded with the spoon in his mouth and then Tohru waved again and followed the two children out of the house, and towards Kisas' house where they were to pick up Momiji so he to could help them make soup.  
  
Hatori sighed in contentment and took another spoonful of soup into his mouth. This truly was going to be the nicest and most helpful thing someone would do for him while he was sick. He leaned against the backrest of the couch and continued eating his soup, enjoying the warming sensation that passed through his body as he swallowed its contents.  
  
After about fifteen minutes of eating the soup, all of its contents were gone. He looked over to the pot which Tohru had brought that still had more in it, but he felt as though he couldn't take even one more bite. He sighed and stood up, took the pot with the oven mitts, and walked into the next room which was his kitchen.  
  
He opened the door to the refrigerator and placed the pot in there, then put the oven mitts on the counter beside it. He closed the door and slowly made his way back to his resting spot. As soon as he got there he laid down and closed his eyes, almost immediately falling asleep due to having a full stomach and feeling a little better then he had previously.

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To be continued...


	4. Chapter Three

Authors Note: I dont know how much I could ever thank all of you for such kind reviews! They truely make me want to write faster, despite my current lack of time. And if you haven't noticed, the rating has now been raised from PG to PG-13 on account of the following chapter, I do not believe would be correctly rated if it stayed the same. This is probably what the rating will stay at, for I am not planning on adding anything that would be considered worse then what this chapter contains. But anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter, and once again, sorry for the lack of humor which the previous chapter contained. This one is sort of on the more serious side until the end.

**WARNING**: This chapter is rated PG-13 on accound of a VERY MILD shonen ai scene. I doubt this story will contain anymore, so please don't leave if you dont like shonen ai, for its not what you think it is right now. If you read you'll understand what I mean.

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Chapter Three  
Winter Sickness  
  
Written by: Nao

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A loud crash had been the source of what awoken the slumbering dragon. He groaned and rolled over to look around, still half asleep. He didn't notice anything so he sighed, shook his head, and flopped back onto the couch. Hatori had never been the one who could fall back asleep once he had woken up, so he just laid there with his eyes shut, resting.  
  
The dragon moved his hand, about to stifle a yawn that had come upon him when he suddenly got a thermometer shoved into his mouth. He nearly gagged on the object that was carelessly put into his mouth without warning, and glared at the snake whom had been the one to do so.  
  
Ayame was now standing there, holding the end of the thermometer in his friends' mouth, and watching a watch which he had on his right wrist. He hadn't noticed the dragons look that was aimed towards him, and either chose to ignore it, or completely missed it when he looked over and grinned. He pulled the object from under the other mans tongue and looked over it. "Oh my goodness, Ha'ri! You have such a high fever!" He dramatically yelled which caused his companion, Shigure, to do the same and quickly gasp.  
  
"Ice! Ice! I'll go get some!" The dog nearly sprinted out of the room, and returned seconds later with about four ice cubes that were wrapped in a damp paper towel. He lunged towards the dragon and knelt next to him, placing the ice on the other mans' forehead. As he did so Hatori shivered slightly, and got sight of the thermometer that the other was still holding. At the reading, he rolled his eyes. As it seems, 98.9 degrees was what the other considered a fever.  
  
Shigure continued to sit there, not toying with the corner of the paper towel as he held it. "Any better, Ha-chan?" He asked quietly to the other man and looked him in the eyes. Hatori didn't know what feeling was building up inside of him at the moment as Shigure simply watched him, as he waited for an answer. He simply nodded, not wanting to sat something that would bring the other two there back to how they were fixing him up yesterday.  
  
Shigure grinned and remained there for a couple more moments before the deep voice of Ayame broke the silence. "We should check his temperature again, shouldn't we, Shigure? To make sure it's going down?" He asked happily to his friend. Shigure merely nodded and then a mischievous glint sparkled in his eye as he looked over to Ayame.  
  
"I'll do it this time." He said in a husky voice, but shook his head as soon as he was offered the thermometer. "I won't be needing that. I've got a better way." He replied in the same deep voice before turning back to face the sickly dragon. Hatori didn't know what to make of what he was saying, after all, this was Shigure whom was saying it. His ideas and concepts were usually much different from normal society'.  
  
But what came next he would've never though even Shigure would come to think right to do in this scenario. The dragon was frozen in spot as he watched as the dogs' eyes fluttered shut and his lips parted ever so slightly as he moved his face towards the sickly mans'. At first they were inches apart, then centimetres, and then—  
  
Hatori awoke with a start as his eyes snapped open. He was breathing heavily and could feel the blood rush to his face, tinting his cheeks a shade of red. His eyes darted around the room, and blinked as he saw the sleeping form of the dog whom had been the source of his current state of blushing.  
  
There was Shigure, snuggled deep into a blanked with his head on a notebook, which was on the table. Hatori shook his head and struggled to stand up and then walked over to the other. He took a quick glance around, but saw no sign of the snake at the moment, but shrugged it off.  
  
Once reaching the resting place of the dog, he sneered slightly at the sight of a small train of drool down Shigures' chin, and then on the paper. He shook his head and carefully as he could lifted the mans' head up and slid the notebook from under it. Even though he knew he shouldn't snoop at the other mans' work, he wanted to see what he had previously been writing, before he fell asleep on his oh-so-comfy table.  
  
Hatori quickly flipped though a couple of the pages till he reached the back of the journal. From what it seemed, Shigure was writing another of his dime-store smut novels. He shook his head and looked over the final page:  
  
_Even into the late night, rain continued to pour down with no signs of stopping. Every citizen of the small town seemed to be inside their homes or other buildings to shelter themselves from the rain. But, unbeknownst to other people of the town, the brunette, Kanai, remained under the willow tree, weeping in time with the rain.  
  
She felt as though her world had shattered and been discarded, that she no longer had any reason to continue on living her painful life. She had been blamed for the accident which had nearly killed her fiancée, and no longer could she bare to even look at him.  
  
She was a disgrace, a total and complete failure. He had been there to catch her every time that she had almost hit rock bottom, but she couldn't even save him this one time. He would always make her smile, laugh, or simply happy.  
  
But all that was in the past. Frozen like the cold snow on a winter day, to forever be preserved and haunt them both.  
  
"Kanai! Ka-chan!" She looked up slightly at the call of her name. Who would be out in such horrible weather looking for her? Once again she heard the call, and her lips curled into a frown. She wasn't mad or even angry that her fiancée, Hatomi, had come to find her. She just knew she didn't deserve to be found, or him for that matter.  
  
Late into the night she listened as he continued to call out to her, even as the rain steadily changed into snow; but still, she remained there, under the giant weeping willow that preserved all her happiest memories. This was the tree that Hatomi and her had first met under, shared their first kiss, admitted their love, and finally where he had proposed to her. Just thinking of all those memories caused her eyes to fill up with tears.  
  
And one thing she knew was that this would be the place where it all would end. She would become a preserved memory at this same spot, and spend forever and a day under that tree, to preserve both the memories of her, and the life that she once loved.  
  
The night ultimately got colder, and sleep overtook the young womans' form, and at the end, that sleep became the eternal sleep which she had been longing for. Selfishness consumed her soul at the end. She didn't want to leave Hatomi, but she didn't want to have to live with the memories of a lost love like theirs for the rest of her life on this planet.  
_  
Hatori stared at the notebook for a moment before ultimately throwing it to the floor, awaking the sleeping dog with the echoing noise. "What was that?" He asked, rubbing his eyes and then looking over to Hatori. He then noticed his journal, which had been tossed unceremoniously to the floor. His eyes turn downcast, and he didn't make eye contact after that with the other.  
  
"What the hell is that, Shigure?" The dragon asked, keeping his normal tone. He had noticed after the mention of 'Hatomi' just whom the story was about, even though it was twisted to please the morbid novelist. Him and Kana's tale of their relationship was the center of the story.  
  
"It's just something I made up, Ha-chan." The dog murmured, eyes remaining downcast and an aura of sadness enveloping him. That had been something that the other had not meant to see, at least not yet. Besides, he wasn't going to even give it to Mii, his editor, before he got an okay from the dragon.  
  
"I don't enjoy you writing about my own personal business." He said and picked up the notebook and tossed it onto the table in front of the dog. "Get rid of it." He finished, harsher then he had meant it to be, then walked away into the kitchen.  
  
Ayame stood at the stove stirring a pot of beef stew, and grinning. Hatori just stared for a moment before taking a seat at the table. "Don't tell me you made that." He commented and received a round of laughter from the other.  
  
"No, no, no! Of course not! I could never make such a delicious meal like this! The younger children and Tohru made it for you! Isn't that so sweet?" He asked, in a loud voice, still laughing slightly. Hatori's smile returned slightly. He didn't believe he could ever get sick of Tohru's cooking, and having it was always a treat. "I'm just warming it up! I hope you're hungry." The snake announced before pulling the pan off of the stove and putting it on a towel. He then shut off the burner, picked the pot back up by the handle, and shifted it to pick it up and put it on a pot holder.  
  
In the process of moving the pot of stew off of the towel, he had failed to notice that the towel had slipped over on the counter, and onto the previously used burner. He was about to scoop some of the stew into a bowl for Hatori when suddenly a small draft of dark smoke passed him. He sniffed at the air slightly and then covered his nose. "Did I truly burn the stew?" He asked and then turned back to face the burner and his eyes widened. The towel had caught fire. What a perfect thing for Ha'ri to get worked up about.  
  
"Fire!" He screamed. "Water! No, no! Flour! No, not that either!" He then grinned slightly. "Fire extinguisher!" He quickly searched through the cabinets looking for a fire extinguisher.  
  
By this time Hatori had jumped out of his seat and tripped over his own feet to go save his kitchen from the fire which obviously wouldn't be put out anytime soon by the snake. He ran over, grabbed the towel, and quickly tossed it into the sink. He rushed over, grabbed a bag of flour, and dropped it, causing its contents to fly everywhere. His eyes then widened as he picked up the remainder of the bag and its contents, and dumped it on the fire, and then turned on the water.  
  
About ten minutes later Ayame was sighing and looking into the pot of stew, which had a thin layer of flour on it, as did almost everything else in the kitchen. He let out an overdramatic sigh and shook his head. "Look at this mess." He said, stirring the flour into the stew and scrunching up his nose slightly. "I think it's ruined."  
  
"You think?" Hatori said sarcastically and shook his head. He was coved in the white powder, though somehow it seemed as if Ayame had escaped the explosion of flour completely, for he had absolutely none on him, unlike the remained of the kitchen. Hatori rubbed his temples and then started to attempt to rid himself of the powder.  
  
This day was turning out to be just as horrible as his previous time with the Mabudachi Trio the previous day. He shook his head. How in hell would he ever get better at this rate?  
  
"Ah! It snowed!"  
  
"No, silly puppy! Ha'ri was clumsy and made a mess!"  
  
"Oh...with what?"  
  
"I'll leave that to your imagination!"  
  
"Both of you, shut up and start cleaning."

* * *

To be continued... 


End file.
